There's no party like an 1892 Andrew Jackson inauguration party. Prior to Jackson, "inauguration receptions had been discreet and civilized affairs" where "straight-laced members of the American aristocracy would gather at the President’s House and offer their formal congratulations over coffee and biscuits." Jackson on the other hand invited the public to the reception which quickly got out of hand.
When the staff opened the doors to bring out the first barrels of orange and rum punch, the exultant crowd burst in and knocked several over, soaking the floor in sticky booze and smashed glasses. The guests were, said eyewitness Margaret Bayard Smith, “a rabble, a mob, of boys, negros, women, children, scrambling, fighting, romping… Ladies fainted, men were seen with bloody noses, and such a scene of confusion as is impossible to describe.” The crowd quickly took possession of the White House: So many people were squeezed inside that the building itself creaked and shuddered dangerously. A bodyguard of loyal friends had to form a ring around the scarecrow figure of Jackson so he wouldn’t be crushed to death or asphyxiated by well-wishers. The strangers behaved if they were in a Mississippi saloon, standing in mud-caked boots on the damask chairs for a better view.
[Via]